repentance

Believe the Threat and the Promise

Sherry Attributes of God, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit 3 Comments

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth… Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. -Genesis 6:13, 22

Faith is to be exercised about the commandments; for David says, “I have believed Thy commandments.” Faith is to be exercised upon the promises; for there its sweetest business lies. But, believe me, you cannot have faith in the promise unless you are prepared to have faith in the threatening also. If you truly believe a man, you believe all that he says. He who does not believe that God will punish sin, will not believe that God will pardon it through the atoning blood. He who does not believe that God will cast unbelievers into hell, will not be sure that he will take believers into heaven. If we doubt God’s Word about one thing, we shall have small confidence in it upon another thing. Sincere faith in God must treat all God’s Word alike; for the faith which accepts one word of God and rejects another is evidently not faith in God, but faith in our own judgment, faith in our own taste. Only that is true faith which believes everything that is revealed by the Holy Spirit, whether it be joyous or distressing. Noah had, in this case, received a promise; but, as the dark background to it, he had listened to the terrible threatening that God would destroy all living things with a flood: his faith believed both the warning and the promise. If he had not believed the threat, he would not have prepared an ark, and so would not have received the promise…With solemn awe believe the bitter word of judgment, that the word of mercy may be sweet to you. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2147.cfm

It is Not to Every Man that Christ is All

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him – Colossians 3:10

Paul does not say that Christ is all in all to all men, but he tells us that there is a new creation, in which the man is “renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him,” where all national and ceremonial distinctions cease, and Christ is all and in all. It is not to every man that Christ is all and in all. Alas! there are many in this world to whom Christ is nothing; He scarcely enters into their thoughts. Some of the baser sort only use His name to curse by; and as to many others, if they have a religion, it is a proud presumption which excludes a Savior. The creed of the self-righteous has no room in it for the sinner’s Savior; the justifier of the ungodly is nothing to them. The worldly, the frivolous, the unchaste, the licentious, these do not permit themselves to think of the Holy Redeemer. Perchance some such are now present, and though they will hear about Him this morning, and of nothing else but Him, they will say, “what a weariness it is,” and be glad when the discourse is ended. Jesus is a root out of a dry ground to multitudes, to them He hath no form nor comeliness, and in Him they see no beauty that they should desire Him. Ah, what will they do when He is revealed in the glory of His power? They thought it nothing to them as they passed by His cross, but they will not be able to despise Him as they stand convicted before His throne. O ye who make Jesus nothing, kiss the Son lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Without Christ, you are today without peace, and will be for ever without hope! Nothing remains for Christless souls at the last, but a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation. I could well pause here, and say, let us pray for those who are unbelievers, and so are living without a Savior, that they may not remain any longer in this state of condemnation.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1006.cfm

 

By His Given Power

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation, The Holy Spirit 1 Comment

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. -John 1:12

There is many a poor sinner who says, “I know that Christ is Himself the Truth, but how can that Truth be mine? I know that there is eternal life, and that Christ is the Life as well as the Truth and the Way, but I am spiritually dead, can I ever have that life?” Yes, you can, for our Lord Jesus Christ is not merely the Way, but He is also the power by which we run in that way. He is not only the Truth, but He gives us the illuminating Spirit to lead us into the Truth; and He is not only the Life, but He puts that Life into us, and sustains and perfects it. You have nothing to do, sinner, but to give yourself up to the leading, guiding, directing, assisting, quickening of the blessed Spirit of God. It is true that you must believe, but He will give you the grace of faith. It is true that you must repent, but it is also true that He works repentance in us. There must and there will be a change of life in all true converts but it is the Holy Spirit who converts you and turns you completely round. There must be sanctification in genuine believers, but it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you. There is nothing asked of you in the gospel, but what the gospel itself gives you. Those things which, in one part of Scripture, are put as precepts, are, in other parts of Scripture, among the promises. What the Lord bids the sinner do, He enables the sinner to do, just as, when Jesus said to the man that was paralyzed, “Take up thy bed, and walk,” with the command He gave the power to obey it; and when He said to another man, “Stretch out thy hand, withered though it be,” the miraculous power, that gave the nerves and muscles force again, went with the mandate from the lips of Jesus. In like manner, trust thou the Lord to give thee the power to lay hold on the gospel. The very eye, with which to look at the brazen serpent is His gift; and that gift He is prepared to bestow upon all who come to Him for it. Is not this good news from a far country? ~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2866.cfm

He Has Prepared the Way for You, Sinner

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, promises, repentance, salvation, The Father 1 Comment

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:19,21

Do you ask, “How can I ever get to God? Surely, the justice of God, on account of my sin, raises an impassable barrier between us.” That is quite true, yet listen to this, poor, guilty sinner. God must be just, that is certain; and, being just, He must punish thy sin. But hast thou not heard that He has given His only-begotten Son that He might stand in the sinner’s stead, and bear the punishment that was due on account of the sinner’s guilt? That middle wall of partition Christ has broken down, even as the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Oh, what a mighty rent was that! Not a little slit, part of the way down; but from the top to the bottom. So has Jesus Christ demolished the barrier which stood between a justly angry God and a guilty but repenting sinner, and now there is a way of approach, for the very worst of men and women, right up to the throne of the Most High. By the blood of Jesus, once shed for many, for the remission of sins, the guiltiest foot of man may come. Ay, by that blood-besprinkled way, the most condemned sinner may come without fear of being repulsed. The chasm has been filled, the gulf bridged over, and if thou truly believest in Jesus Christ, thou mayest, in His name, and for His sake, come back to thy Heavenly Father. That wise resolve within thy heart, which says, “I will arise and go to my Father,” should be at once carried into effect, for thy Father hath prepared the way by which thou mayest come back to Him, and, to encourage thee, He has sprinkled it with the blood of His dear Son,-the surest sign and token of His love to sinners that even God Himself could give. Here, then, is good news from a far country. Your Father thinks of you, poor prodigal; and He has paved the way for you to come back to His own house and heart.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2866.cfm

Good News from God to Sinners

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

…good news from a far country. -Proverbs 25:25

Sin has led the sinner into a far country. That part of the description of the prodigal son, who gathered all together, and went into a far country, aptly describes the condition of the whole human race…We are, by nature, far off from God in the whole bent and current of our life, which no longer runs in a parallel line with the life of God as first imparted to man (before the Fall), but runs rather according to the fashion of the life of Satan, so that we yield ourselves up to the evil influence of that foul spirit who worketh in the children of disobedience.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so is it with our God. He pities those who wander away from Him. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” God takes no delight in your sin, and no delight in the shame and sorrow which your sin will bring upon you unless you turn from it, but He will take delight in you if you return to Him. He still cries to you, “Return ye now every one from his evil way;” and He still remembers you in pity and compassion. Notwithstanding your forgetfulness of Him, and your wilful rebellion against Him, He doth remember you still; for God is love, and there is love in His heart even towards sinners who are dead in trespasses and sins. That, surely, is good news to you, and if God thus thinks of you in pity, should not you think of God with deep, heartfelt penitence and contrition?~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/2866.cfm

Fitness for Believing in Christ

Sherry Character of Jesus, confession of sin, promises, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. -1 Timothy 1:15

Some are asking the question, “How shall I make myself fit to be saved?” That is similar to a man who, being very black and filthy coming home from a coal mine or from a forge, says, seeing the bath before him: “How shall I make myself fit to be bathed?” You tell him at once that there cannot be any fitness for washing, except filthiness, which is the reverse of a fitness. So there can be no fitness for believing in Christ, except sinfulness, which is, indeed, the reverse of fitness. If you are hungry, you are fit to eat; if you are thirsty, you are fit to drink; if you are naked, you are fitted to receive the garments which charity is giving to those who need them; if you are a sinner, you are fitted for Christ, and Christ for you; if you are guilty, you are fitted to be pardoned; if you are lost, you are fitted to be saved. This, is all the fitness Christ requireth, and cast every other thought of fitness far hence; yea, cast it to the winds. If thou be needy, Christ is ready to enrich thee. If thou wilt come and confess thine offences before God, the gracious Saviour is willing to pardon thee just as thou art. There is no other fitness wanted.

“Yes, but the way of salvation is coming to Christ and I am afraid I do not come in the right way.” Dear, dear, how unwise we are in the matter of salvation!…”What kind of coming is that,” says John Bunyan, “which saves a soul?” and he answers, “Any coming in all the world if it does but come to Jesus.”~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3509.cfm

To Whom Coming

Sherry Attributes of God, Character of Jesus, Christian Life, promises, repentance, salvation 3 Comments

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious -1 Peter 2:4

In these three words you have, first of all, a blessed person mentioned, under the pronoun “whom”- “To whom coming.” In the way of salvation we come alone to Jesus Christ. All comings to baptism, comings to confirmation, comings to sacrament are all null and void unless we come to Jesus Christ. That which saves the soul is not coming to a human priest, nor even attending the assemblies of God’s saints; it is coming to Jesus Christ, the great exalted Saviour, once slain, but now enthroned in glory. You must get to Him, or else you have virtually nothing upon which your soul can rely. “To whom coming.” Peter speaks of all the saints as coming to Jesus, coming to Him as unto a living stone, and being built upon Him, and no other foundation can any man lay than that which is laid, and if any man say that coming anywhere but to Christ can bring salvation, he hath denied the faith and utterly departed from it. The coming mentioned in the text is a word which is sometimes explained in Scripture by hearing, at other times by trusting or believing, and quite as frequently by looking. “To whom coming.” Coming to Christ does not mean coming with any natural motion of the body, for He is in heaven, and we cannot climb up to the place where He is; but it is a mental coming, a spiritual coming; it is, in one word, a trusting in and upon Him. He who believes Jesus Christ to be God, and to be the appointed atonement for sin, and relies upon Him as such, has come to Him, and it is this coming which saves the soul. Whoever the wide world over has relied upon Jesus Christ, and is still relying upon Him for the pardon of his iniquities, and for his complete salvation, is saved.~ C.H. Spurgeon

https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/3509.cfm